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Don’t count on marijuana to treat prostate cancer

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Question: I have been battling prostate cancer for 11 years. My prostate was removed in 2003 and I also received radiation treatment. The cancer seemed under control. In the past year, however, the count from my PSA test has gone from 4.1 to 8.4. Now my doctor is recommending that I do hormone-deprivation therapy that will eliminate testosterone from my body. My doctor says testosterone can fuel prostate cancer. But the therapy has lots of side effects including the loss of sexual desire. The other point is that I have not taken drugs for most of my life and I don’t want to start now. I really hope I can avoid this treatment if there is an alternative. On the Internet, I noticed a study that said marijuana could fight prostate cancer. There are also numerous web sites dealing with curing cancer with cannabis oil. I am not sure if my doctor will approve of the treatment. I would appreciate knowing how to approach my doctor, or what steps to take to obtain cannabis oil. I believe that this natural remedy is going to be a breakthrough in cancer research.

Answer: I think you’re going to have a hard time finding a doctor who is willing to treat your cancer with some type of marijuana – whether it be smoking pot or consuming it in oil form.

As you are likely aware, the federal government recently changed the rules that regulate access to medical marijuana. You now have to obtain permission from a physician before being able to order it from a licensed supplier. In the past, Health Canada controlled who could legally use cannabis.

The major medical associations have objected to this responsibility being placed on doctors – many of them feel uneasy about being made the gatekeepers for a product that’s outside their customary treatments.

There have been a few notable exceptions to this generally negative reaction from the medical community. For instance, Dr. David Juurlink, a drug safety expert and head of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, has gone on the record saying he believes there is a legitimate role for medical marijuana in selected patients.

In a commentary published in June in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dr. Juurlink wrote “a case can be made for the judicious prescribing of cannabis, particular for patients who have previously experienced meaningful symptomatic improvement with its use, and for those who have not benefited from or are intolerant of conventional medications.”

Furthermore, he wrote, “the strongest argument in favour of medicinal cannabis rests in one of the most fundamental objectives of medicine: the relief of suffering, which is always best done in a patient-specific context and with due consideration of the drugs we might other-wise prescribe.”

So you might think that he would be sympathetic to your point of view. However, even Dr. Juurlink says the existing scientific evidence doesn’t justify using medical marijuana to halt the advance of cancer.

“The idea that cannabis would influence prostate cancer in a meaningful way sounds more than a little far-fetched to me,” Dr. Juurlink said in a telephone interview.

The study that you saw online involved experiments conducted on animals and tissue samples in a lab. The research is not yet at the stage where it has moved into human clinical trials.

“If the available evidence consists of animal studies, the idea that cannabis favourably influences the clinical course of prostate cancer should be taken with a very large grain of salt,” says Dr. Juurlink. “Rarely can we extrapolate animal research to what happens in people.”

It’s also important to keep in mind that marijuana is composed of many different chemical compounds, which may have contradictory effects. (Some of these compounds may actually promote rather than curb the growth of cancer cells.)

Although marijuana has been studied for years, there is a dearth of high-quality research exploring its potential medicinal uses. What can be said is that cannabis may have a role in the control of certain symptoms. Some patients may find it helps relieve pain or improves appetite while they are undergoing chemotherapy. Control of symptoms is one thing, but stopping or slowing the advance of a disease is something else entirely.

Still, it’s not surprising that you – or any member of the public – might think marijuana is a proven disease fighter. After all, more than 20 U.S. states have recently approved the use of marijuana for the treatment of a wide range of medical conditions – including cancer.

The state legislators, unfortunately, did not base their endorsement of medicinal pot on a careful review of the medical literature, according to a New York Times article that ran under the headline Politicians’ Prescriptions For Marijuana Defy Doctors and Data.

“There is no rigorous scientific evidence that marijuana effectively treats the symptoms of many of the illnesses for which states have authorized its use,” writes Catherine Saint Louis in the June 26, 2014, edition of the newspaper.

“Instead, experts say, lawmakers and the authors of public referendums have acted largely on the basis of animal studies and heart-wrenching anecdotes. The results have sometimes confounded doctors and researchers,” she adds.

For now at least, hormone therapy – also known as androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) – is still the most reliable treatment option for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

“It has a response rate of more than 90 per cent, which is unusually high in the cancer field,” says Dr. Urban Emmenegger, a medical oncologist at the Odette Cancer Centre of Sunnybrook.

That means ADT will have some effect on the vast majority of patients, though the degree of response varies from one individual to the next, says Dr. Emmenegger, who specializes in treating men with metastatic prostate cancer.

As your doctor correctly explained, prostate cancer is partly fuelled by male hormones, or androgens, which include testosterone. Take those hormones out of the equation and prostate cancer tends to shrink or grow more slowly for a while. Eventually, though, the cancer finds a way around the hormone shortage and resumes its growth. ADT basically buys patients more time. (For the record, women also produce some testosterone, but men make a lot more of it.)

The testicles are the main source of testosterone in a man’s body. So ADT seeks to “silence” the testicles and reduce hormone levels. This end result can be achieved by surgically removing the testicles or by taking certain medications that lower androgen production. Essentially, the patient is castrated – either physically or chemically – which results in a wide range of unpleasant side effects.

In addition to the loss of libido and problems maintaining an erection, a man may also suffer from hot flashes, fatigue, depression, muscle loss, weight gain, thinning bones and even breast enlargement. In some respects, men on ADT experience many of the same adverse effects faced by women during menopause.

There is no denying that ADT can have a huge negative impact on a patient’s quality of life. However, in most cases, it also has an almost immediate effect in slowing the advance of the cancer.

“Obviously, the patients have to decide whether they want to go through the side effects or not,” says Dr. Emmenegger. “But this is such a good treatment, I usually advise them to go ahead with it and closely monitor the side effects.”

Dr. Emmenegger says there are ways to lessen some of the side effects. For example, certain medications may help to treat erectile dysfunction. Other drugs can minimize bone loss. And if depression is an issue, it may be worthwhile seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist with expertise in treating cancer patients.

Not so long ago, most men on ADT suffered in silence. But there is now greater recognition that the treatment’s side effects need to be addressed.

In fact, a new book, entitled Androgen Deprivation Therapy: An Essential Guide for Prostate Cancer Patients and Their Loved Ones, offers lots of advice and coping strategies.

“The book is all about managing the side effects of these drugs,” says the lead author, Richard Wassersug, an adjunct professor in the Department of Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia.

The book – which can be purchased through online book dealers – includes contributions from 10 Canadians experts. (More details are available at the website, www.lifeonadt.com)

“A huge part of the book promotes physical exercise because the patients on these drugs gain weight, lose muscle mass, get weaker bones – and all of those symptoms can be fought by taking exercise really seriously,” says Prof. Wassersug who is the Co-Lead for Vancouver’s new Prostate Cancer Supportive Care Program.

“If a man has to go on these drugs, then a real lifestyle intervention is in order. But it takes a huge commitment,” he adds.

Prof. Wassersug knows first hand of what he speaks. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1998 at the age of 52. When the surgical removal of his prostate gland and radiation therapy failed to stop the cancer, Prof. Wassersug decided to go on ADT. Since then, he has become an outspoken advocate for prostate cancer patients, urging men to be as informed as possible about their condition.

With this background in mind, let’s now return to your question. I admit that, up to now, I have skirted around your main query about how to get your doctor’s approval for using medical marijuana. That’s because I expect your physician will simply reiterate that androgen deprivation therapy is your best option. And if that’s what happens, then ask what can be done to lessen the side effects. You may find that discussion extremely helpful in making an informed decision about the next stage of your cancer treatment.

Enter the debate: reply to an existing comment

24 comments

alexandraOctober 3rd, 2014 at 11:44 am

You title your article ‘don’t count on marihuana to cure your cancer’, but have zero factual evidence to say why it doesn’t work. You don’t cite any studies, any patient experiences, nothing. Rather, what you are doing is promoting another treatment and the purchase of a book. The title of your article is misleading and your hidden agenda has been exposed.

Agreeing with alex, as far as I know, there is no complete cure for cancer, kemo can sometimes make a patient worst or better, the cancer can have low numbers, bt always have the possiblity of coming back worst, if you know someone who is suffering from cancer, then you would understand that any remedy to make them feel better is a option, my dad suffers frm postate cancer, even thou he hates tht I smoke weed for personal reasons, I believe it might help in relieving stress, when a patient is strong mentally that is the best medicine

Alexandra is 100% correct. All you are doing is driving people away from what could possibly be a legitimate medicine in combatting cancer, especially prostate cancer. All you’re doing is promoting another treatment and the purchase of a book. As a medical advisor I would have thought your passion would be helping the sick. You are right, there are very little studies that have been published about the treatment of cancer cells in HUMANS with cannabis. But the overwhelming evidence from the studies in animals, and peoples’ personal experience with using cannabis to treat cancer (especially prostate cancer) cannot be overlooked simply because there’s little trials in humans.

Just one of the many legitimate studies that supports human trials, yet somehow we still aren’t doing them. The article you have published above is just one of many reasons why we haven’t started human testing. You discourage it because we haven’t done it before. How stupid is that!! We need to start human trials ASAP so patients can get the best treatments they can. What we don’t need is a ‘medical advisor’ telling us “don’t count on marijuana to cure your cancer” because no HUMAN studies have been conducted yet, all you are doing is slowing down our efforts in finding a cure for cancer.

The reason it’s impossible for the foreseeable future to get cannabis to the human trial stages, even if Federally descheduled tomorrow, is that in the current medical community it would be absolutely unethical for a doctor to ask her patient to refuse proven treatments in lieu of unproven plant extracts. A time may come that there are enough believers and overwhelming anecdotal evidence that it would be unethical to not allow human trials. For now, though, it’s not going to happen. – The Huffington Post. Not a great source to be quoting but it’s right. In my opinion it is unethical at this point in time to not be conducting human trials.

If this article were to deter one individual with prostate cancer from trying cannabis as a cure, I would consider it a grave disservice to human beings. There is research finally being done following the revelation that the US Government has lied about the nature of cannabis for 75 years, which incidentally is one of the oldest medicines known to man.

I have just been diagnosed with a moderately differentiated T2a prostate cancer. My urologist says that I can safely put off definitive treatment (surgery – not gonna do it; or radiation) for 6 months. The absence of human trials notwithstanding, the anecdotal accounts are encouraging enough(especially when compared to the scary, quality-of-life, side-effects) that I am not going to try radiation until I have given medical cannabis a full trial. Thank god I live in Colorado. I am going in to meet with the Cannabis M.D., to get my MM card, today. Thank you, all, for sending your thoughts, prayers, and good intentions my way.

Hi Steve. …wondered how things were going with you. My brother has advanced prostate cancer which is in the none and now liver. Medication stopped with exception of fortnightly hormone injection. Looking at every path open to him to try…and wondered re the cannabinoid? Cath

Hi Steve,
My name is Mark, I live in CT
I have been diagnosed with T3 prostate cancer. I have not had surgery or radiation. Urologist wanted me to begin hormone shots for two months and then begin external beam radiation. My Homeopathic / Naturopath wants me to try cannabis. How are you doing?

Hi Steve my name is Rick I live in Utah, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer 2 years ago the biopsy showed a aggressive cancer so I had prostate removed. All went well but 7 months later psa started to rise doubling every month. So after 1 year I had my first 6 month dose of Lupron 8 months later psa going back up was 1.4 waited another month but acquired cannabis, I put it in large capsuls to swallow for 3 weeks every night it was a pretty strong dose. Had another psa test it went up to 13.4 so I got another Lupron shot, now wondering if the cannabis made it worse. How you doing?

I am Mr JOHN HOOD i has been suffering from Skin Cancer Types Basal Cell Carcinoma which was confirmed to be stage four,
the doctor told me there was little i could do since i wasn’t responding to treatment but my brother-in-law came to my rescue
by ordering this hemp oil from Dr WILLIAMS LUNA which he said has been helping some patient fight against cancer
of various types so we decided to give it a chance, so far i am improving perfectly very well and presently i can walk around
the house all by myself. I felt its necessary i let others who are suffering from this acute disease that once you have a good Cannabis oil it can really give one a sound second chance of living. if you happen to be in need of this Cannabis oil you can contact the foundation who supplied me Cannabis oil email:(cannabis_oil_for_cancer_cure@outlook.com)..

Unfortunately, many men will go on to metasticise to their hips, spine and other organs because medical doctors will continue to deny the benefits of cannabinoid oil. This stigma started way back with Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover and the American people have not recovered from the false allegations of those times. Once again, unfortunately, many people are being robbed of life and are not told of the benefits of alternative treatment. I have a hard time believing that ethically, doctors would purposefully withhold life saving information from a patient but it is going on every day and this article is a very good example of it. You ask why the government is not endorsing a know medicinal drug. The answer is very easy. How are the pharmaceutical companies going to make money on a product that can not be patented?

My name is Kelly, I’m 52 years old, and I would like to share my amazing story with you.

On January 18, 2000, after a severe headache prompted a CAT scan, a 3cm tumor was discovered in the left frontal lobe of my brain. I was 38 years old. My two daughters were ages 15 and 12. Immediate brain surgery was recommended by my surgeon. However, after further discussion, due to slow growth and no adjacent edema, he felt it would not be negligent to postpone surgery and monitor the tumor every 3 months with an MRI. The tumor remained stable for a little over three years then suddenly grew 25%.

On September 4, 2003, when I was 41, on my husband’s 42nd birthday, I had surgery at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. I spent the next day, our 19th wedding anniversary in ICU. The pathology report came back an Oligodendroglioma grade 2. The surgery was an apparent success and neither radiation nor chemotherapy were recommended. However, since it’s unlikely every cancer cell can be detected and removed, and the nature of gliomas are to grow back over time, it was necessary to continue MRI monitoring every 3 months. Living from MRI to MRI had become our “normal”.

The USA prohibits studies of Schedule 1 drugs therefore there is are no results. Searching the internet will show that there was a study which showed Medical Marijuana was beneficial in treating cancer however, all records in the USA were destroyed as that was not the outcome they were looking for!

I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in 2012 with recommendation to remove my prostate. Having done extensive research, I chose to use Phoenix Oil, a high concentrate of medical marijuana. After 90 days of taking 6-8 drops per night prior to bed, my biopsy came back negative.
Since then, my PSA continues to drop (from a high of 14.9) to its present level of 4.41
I’m also in a national study PASS (Prostate Active Surveillance Study) of over 1,000 men with prostate cancer. I’m the only one that is using MM as well as showing no signs of the original cancer.

I for one use more than an ounce of caution when listening to members of the American Medical Association as they are trained to treat patients with prescriptions. Follow the money!!!!

Hi Pat, I am treating myself naturally and I was diagnosed 1/5/16 with Prostate Cancer. I am looking to speak with like minded people and would love to speak with you if you would not mind. My name is Chris.

what a bunch of crap.get a total body detox do it slow like over 6 weeks.dont push it to fast because your body is already overloaded with toxens.don’t put more stress on your immune system.while doing that go to a all organic plant food diet.and filtered water only.no sugar no fryed foods no flower no nothing.eat beans and brown rice for protein.walk 30 min a day and do deep breath to get your lungs to force more oxygen in your body and blood.after 30 days of this and don’t cheat on nothing this is your life.start doing 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp blakstrap molasses I cup filtered water 2 x a day for 15 days and your cancer is dead in its tracks.get a kit that you can pee in with a ph strip. test your ph until it gets up to 8.0 then hold it there for 15 days this will kill it all.when the cancer sees the sugar in the molasses it attacks it to feed on.when it eats it it gets smacked with the baking soda wich has a ph of 9.0 it dies on the spot.my psa was 39.9 prostate cancer I hate to say it but I’m at 2.6 bam its dead.hope this helps.

I was a volunteer Cancer Society driver for a few years. I was very surprised by the number of people who were taking marijuana oil or smoking for their cancer. All walks of life..doctor,judge, police officer,teachers I had a government scientist all doing pot to help. There is no doubt in my mind that after talking to many people with cancer, that if I get it I would not hesitate to try. Regardless of evidence at this time once it becomes legal more will take the chance to do rescherch and all will learn the facts

My husband Jackson Rob was diagnosed with lung cancer. He has undergone radiation and chemotherapy, and currently in 6th month of chemo 5 days of each month. Since radiation therapy was completed about 6 months ago the lung cancer have not gone. I was making research online on any possible solution that could help my husband and I came across how cannabis oil have helped a lot of people around the world to cure any kind of cancer. I was so happy and relief when I saw this and I knew there was hope for my husband to live. I contacted Medicinal Marijuana Resources via E-mail info@medicinalmarijuanaresources.com to get the high quality THC cannabis oil for treatment and prescription on how to use the cannabis oil for treatment of lung cancer. My husband started using the cannabis oil for treatment as directed by Medicinal Marijuana Resources expert team. As I am posting this comment, my husband lung cancer is completely cured and gone and he is healthy and living fine. I can’t believe this, I have to share this on cancer blog to all cancer patient out there I never believed that there could be any complete cure for lung cancer.

This document is provided under the terms of a CreativeCommons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike license. The terms of the license are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/. Attributions are to be made to HealthyDebate.ca, a project under the direction of Dr. Andreas Laupacis, at the Keenan Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital.